Like so many of the stories at S&S – our first true introduction to Black Sign came as a mix of chance and friendship. Somewhere in the vast depths of The Before Times, Ryo and Hiro Ooe of Ooe Yofukuten brought us to the Black Sign store in Nagoya, Japan. The brand had been on our radar for awhile – but the confines of a computer screen limit your understanding of a brand with such depth and complexity as Black Sign. We had no idea what kind of world we were about to walk into – a world of strange, obscure vintage that spans a wide range of time periods.

From Victorian era curiosities to early 20th century equestrian and motorcycle wear to rare WW2 era items - the garments were beautifully constructed, with a shared identity and aesthetic cohesion running through the collection to a degree we rarely see in brands focusing on reproductions & recreations. The end result is not only some of the most technically proficient manufacturing we've seen, but also among the most stylistically advanced.